Maple Bacon Cupcakes

As promised, I've been baking!

The icing is coming but I've done the cupcakes so for now you'll get the recipe for those.

With a small child who requires entertaining, baking these days gets done in stages or not at all. 

I'm only blogging because she's been napping like a champion today. I suspect a growth spurt.

For John's birthday we're doing a 'Ron Swanson' theme (from Parks and Recreation) because they share many likes and dislikes. 

Taking Ron's love of breakfast food I googled some bacon cupcake recipes.

This one does not disappoint.

Recipe from the glorious website Bacon Today

Maple Bacon Cupcakes

(makes about 10 cupcakes)

• Fry 6 pieces of bacon then mince into small pieces. Set aside about 1 tbsp of bacon grease and allow it to solidify in the fridge.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin.
• In a bowl, cream together 4 1/2 tbsp butter with 5 tbsp brown sugar. Add in 1 tbsp bacon grease. Add in 1 egg and 4 tbsp maple syrup.
• In a separate bowl, mix together 1 1/4 cup flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 pinch salt. 
• Mix half of the flour into wet ingredients, then add 1/4 cup milk and the rest of the flour.  Fold in the minced bacon (about 1/4 cup).
• Pour into muffin tins (filling about 3/4 full) and bake for about 20 minutes. 

Bacon!

Maple icing recipe coming up soon :)

Sausage & Bacon Tortellini Bake

Yesterday, day two of mat leave sans husband, my lovely sister came over to visit.

It gave me a chance to have a shower, play with the dog outside, and prep something for dinner. 

She also brought McDonalds which was highly appreciated. 

You might think that making dinner when you're spending an entire day looking after an infant who doesn't nap for very long at any given time would be the last thing you'd want to think about doing. 

But I actually enjoyed getting into the kitchen and putting a little thought into what we would eat.

It was a nice return to normal life for a bit. 

While browsing Facebook during our early morning feed, I came across a Martha recipe for a bacon tortellini bake. 

Since we had tortellini in the freezer, and since the dish was relatively quick and easy to prepare, I decided that making this would be my goal for the day.

It was, true to its word, quick and easy.

And delicious.

• In a pan, add 3 or 4 sausages to 1/3 cup water and heat, covered, over medium-high until the sausages are cooked through, about 5-10 minutes. Remove sausages and allow to cool. Drain water from pan.
• In the same pan, fry 1/2 onion, diced, with 4 strips of bacon cut into strips. Add in 2 cloves of garlic, diced.  Add sausage back to pan. Cook until the onions are translucent and the bacon and sausage is cooked. 
• Add in 2 tbsp flour and stir to combine. Pour in 1/2 cup milk and stir again to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add in 1 pkg tortellini and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and allow mixture to thicken over medium heat for about4 minutes. 
• Pour into an oven safe dish and sprinkle top with more cheese (parmesan or whatever you want). Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, until warm and the cheese is browned. 
• Then serve and enjoy!

Easy enough to make with a newborn (and someone to keep said newborn entertained)!

Bacon Jam: the ultimate stocking stuffer

As I was perusing this month's issue of Martha Stewart Living, I kept coming back to one page in particular because it looked too good to be true. 

It was a recipe for a homemade gift, a perfect stocking stuffer for carnivorous friends and family.

It was Bacon Jam. 

So yesterday I spent the afternoon in the kitchen, surrounded by the happy smells of frying bacon, onion and garlic, bubbling brandy, maple syrup and brown sugar.

If you're looking for something to wow your friends, make this for them. 

This recipe is based on the Martha Stewart Living recipe found here but with my own substitutions.

1. Cut 2 500-gram packages of bacon into 1 inch pieces. Spread half of the bacon in a single layer in a large skillet and cook over medium heat until brown, about 20-25 minutes. Repeat with the remaining bacon, making sure to drain off as much fat as possible in the process. 
2. Save 1 tbsp bacon fat in the skillet and add to that 1 large red onion, diced, and 4 cloves of garlic, also diced. Cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. 
3. Stir in 1 tbsp paprika and 1 tbsp freshly grated ginger and cook for another minute. 
4. Turn heat up to high. Add in 1 cup brandy, 3/4 cup maple syrup, 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup red wine vinegar. Bring to a boil then add in bacon.
5. Reduce heat to low and let simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid reduces to a thick glaze. I added in 1/4 cup molasses and a bit of corn starch to get my liquid to thicken.

Warning: your kitchen and subsequently your home is going to smell like heaven at this point.

6. Once thickened, let it cool then transfer to a blender or food processor and puree to the consistency of a thick/chunky jam. 

7. Put jam into airtight containers or jars for gifting or saving and refrigerate for at least one hour. The jam should keep in the fridge for about a month. 

Make sure to sample some for yourself as well. 

Enjoy!

Bacon-wrapped Pork Tenderloin with Apples & Sage

Appologies for the lack of posts recently...I'm back in school and placement full time so my time is unfortunately not as free as it once was. And it's only going to get worse because I haven't even started back to my fall work schedule yet.

My placement is going really well so far. I'm in a social services office (social assistance, employment placement and referals, job training workshops, etc) and I've discovered that it's something that really appeals to me.

I got to sit in on an employment placement workshops, I sat in on an info session facilitated by a public health nurse for an amazing initiative called Investing in Families, and today I sat in on an initial intake interview for social assistance. It's amazing that there actually are systems in place to provide resources to the people in our communities who need it.

I can definitely see myself becoming a part of this field later on.

John and I, after an entire weekend apart and a less-than-pleasant Monday night (due to stupid stupid circumstances), went out for dinner last night. Nothing fancy - Jack Astor's - but a much needed date night. It's easy to forget what a great partner you've got when you forget to do fun and exciting things together.

If I can offer up any advice to keeping a long-term relationship fun it is this: DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE IMPORTANCE OF DATES!

As promised, I will do my review of this month's Martha (LOTS of great Halloween ideas!) but I've been slowly going through it while mainly focusing on finishing all those pesky nursing readings for my classes.

Never fear, I've got tomorrow eeeevening and the weekend to write it up and also to pre-write some posts for the week!

As I mentioned previously, I made a pork-on-pork dream come true at my parents place last weekend.

It was delicious.

Bacon makes the meat so tender and bacon in and of itself is so good.

Here's the recipe from the Autumn 2010 Food & Drink from the LCBO

Enjoy!

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Loin with Apples & Sage

(photo from LCBO website, recipe by Marilyn Bentz-Crowley)

YOU WILL NEED:

2 large pork tenderloins,total about 2 lbs (about 1 kg)
10 fresh sage leaves, very finely chopped,or 1 tsp (5 mL) dried rubbed sage
2 to 3 large garlic cloves, minced
¼ tsp (1 mL) salt
¼ tsp (1 mL) freshly groundblack pepper
9 to 10 slices thick-cut bacon
Kitchen twine
3 to 4 large apples such asCortland or Spy
1 large cooking onion
2 tbsp (25 mL) all-purpose flour
1½ cups (375 mL) chicken broth or stock


1. If any silver skin on loins is present, cut away and discard. Sprinkle sage, garlic, salt and pepper all over loins. Place loins closely together lengthwise, with thick ends meeting thin ends, to even out roast thickness.
2. Lay out slices of bacon snugly together on a cutting board, forming a rectangle. Place loins across bacon so bacon ends emerge from each side. Beginning at one end, lift a bacon end up over loins at a 45° angle. Then, alternating sides, continue lifting bacon ends down the length of roast forming a chevron pattern of bacon on top.
3. Cut five 12-inch (30-cm) lengths of twine and one 30-inch (75-cm) length. Place 5 shorter lengths of twine under loins widthwise. Working out from roast centre, firmly (but not causing deep indents to form) tie up each piece of twine, spacing evenly apart. Then tie up roast lengthwise with longer piece of twine. Trim twine ends; discard. (Roast can be prepared, covered and refrigerated for up to half a day. Add 10 to 15 minutes to roasting time.)
4. When ready to roast, preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Lightly brown roast on all sides, about 15 minutes in total. Transfer to a baking pan lined with a rack. Place in oven; set time for 30 minutes. Check and continue roasting until a meat thermometer reads 145°F (63°C). Remove from oven: transfer to cutting board. Cover roast with foil; let rest 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, peel core and slice apples. Thinly slice onion.
6. Drain most of fat from frying pan; place back over medium heat. Add onion; cook 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Stir in flour; cook 1 minute. Stir in chicken broth; add apple slices. Bring to a boil; simmer, covered, 5 to 10 minutes or until apples are tender and sauce is lightly thickened. Add more broth if too thick; keep covered and hot.
7. To slice pork roast, snip off lengthwise string. Then slice about ¾ inch (2 cm) thick, removing crosswise strings as they are encountered. Place a few saucy apples on each warm serving plate, top with a couple of slices of roast and drizzle with more sauce. Serve with mashed potatoes and a steamed julienne of carrot and kohlrabi.

Everything Tastes Better with Bacon

Ever heard the saying 'everything tastes better with bacon'?
No? Well neither have I but it's a well known fact that everything does, in fact, taste exponentially better when bacon is factored into the mix.
Example 1:
Bacon wrapped asparagus.

So good. I made it for dinner last night along with a variation on jerk chicken and basmati rice.

The bacon fat that is rendered into the pan really gives the asparagus a nice flavour.

Last summer we made bacon wrapped corn on the BBQ.

Literally everything tastes better wrapped in bacon.

Also last night we dined al fesco on the balcony.

Our cozy dinner nook:

And dining outside reminded me of a long-standing item on my to-do list:

Sneak into this pool across the street from me.

It's been one year today since MJ and (sadly overshadowed by MJ's death) Farrah Fawcett passed away.
It does NOT feel like a year has gone by!
Insane.
Guess it's a reminder to stop and smell the roses and not to wish away the day, something I find I do all too often.

Back tomorrow with a concert pic and more Jamaican recipes!